CROWN POINT | Lake County's Good Government Initiative has gone behind closed doors.

County Surveyor George Van Til said this week he and several present and former county officials are meeting privately to discuss implementing parts of the 1,059-page Good Government efficiency study released earlier this year.

Indiana's Open Door Law requires public agencies to ensure access to meetings in which public business is conducted.

County Councilman Tom O'Donnell, who is taking part in the discussions, said the ad hoc committee isn't covered by that law. He said the group that gathers has no authority to conduct public business or make decisions affecting public money or services.

County Prosecutor Bernard Carter, another member of the committee, said the members voted to decline comment on their discussions, with the exception of Van Til, their chairman.

Van Til said the committee's existence already may be seen as a threat by other officials who are not part of it.

"We don't really want to play this in the media or make people more uncomfortable than they are," Van Til said. "I didn't seek anybody out to even talk about this. I don't see that as being productive at this point when you are dealing with so many people with so many agendas."

The Good Government Initiative is an effort by U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., the Indiana University Northwest's Local Government Academy, BP, Mittal Steel, NiSource, U.S. Steel and Whiteco to reduce waste in public spending.

Maximus, a Reston, Va., consulting firm, was commissioned to study Lake County government and suggest changes. It concluded county officials were spending as much as $6 million a year more than necessary and should cut at least 72 jobs, consolidate departments and reduce the county's fleet of vehicles.

Van Til said that document isn't a natural blueprint for action, so county officials created the ad hoc committee, which has had talks about public offices and how those offices can cooperate with each other and other local government entities in the county.

He said committee members have discussed creating a human resources department and standardizing policies regarding the purchase and maintenance of all county vehicles and equipment.